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Suyash Birje 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a typical middle-class Indian with an Engineering degree in IT. I didn’t have much interest in coding or software development. And while I was working, I used to write a sports blog on the side. People used to like reading my views about Cricket and motivated me to take up sports writing, which I did the first opportunity that came my way. Later I pursued my dream to be an MBA in Marketing. I prefer tea over coffee to write a detailed story, typically awake late at night penning them down when the world is asleep! I started writing short stories for my email subscribers. One such story got converted into my first book, Double Tap to Unlock Love. I am currently working on a plot for my second one.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My debut book is called Double Tap To Unlock Love. What inspired it was the year 2020 and the perpetual lockdown that came with it. We all have had crushed over social media, and 2020 made it possible to reach out to them since we were stuck at home with hardly anything else to do. It helped me imagine what it would be like if our crushes got serious when we are not fighting a pandemic.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it is unusual, but I prefer typing out most of my stories on the phone, especially late at night when I am in my bed. Maybe not unusual but unhealthy for sure.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
J.K. Rowling, Matt Haig and countless others. I am a fan of storytelling. I love how authors have the ability to suck you into another life made up of their imagination. It is simply mind-blowing.

What are you working on now?
I am working on a plot for my second book, and also some idea to start a video blog or something.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Leveraging social media was my go-to method to promote my books. Still new to book marketing, so trying a handful of things with minimum budget.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write for yourself. Write for your friends. Write for that one person who believes in you and your writing. You will do good.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Very cliche, but the best one is – Follow your passion! Happiness should be your ambition, always!

What are you reading now?
The Death of Vivek Oji. I am hooked.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing the next story!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Secret of the Nagas, One of Sophie Kinsella’s light read, and Agatha Christie.

Author Websites and Profiles
Suyash Birje Website
Suyash Birje Amazon Profile

Suyash Birje’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account

Azalea Dunn 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Jamaican author of romance and sci fi/fantasy. I’ve written a lot of books, but I have published just one so far. I hope to publish more over the next few years.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Vice. It wasn’t inspired by anything really. I just wanted to see if I could write something edgier than I usually do so I decided to try my hand at a motorcycle romance series.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Every writer probably has unusual habits but I do tend to write really late at night or very early in the morning. Like 4am early.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
A lot of authors but since I have to narrow it down – Alyssa Cole, Beverly Jenkins, Andrea Levy

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a historical romance series. Historical romance is one of my favorite genres to read, but I had been hesitant about writing it. I didn’t think I could for a lot of reasons. But when I lost someone close to me, I realized that the future isn’t a guarantee. I might think I’ll have the courage to write something 10 years from now, but there’s no guarantee I’ll even been here, so I realized that now is the time to write what’s in my heart.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m a newbie published author so I’m not sure if I have enough experience with promo to answer this.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
You don’t have to write very single day to be a writer.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There’s a solution to every problem

What are you reading now?
Going back and forth between Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender, and Hearth and Home by Rebel Carter

What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m working on publishing my first series within the next year. *crosses fingers*

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Probably books that take me back to my childhood so: Sabriel, Black Beauty, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Author Websites and Profiles
Azalea Dunn Website
Azalea Dunn Amazon Profile

Azalea Dunn’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile

Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Jon David 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Jon and this is my first book!

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The first book I’ve written is called The Sixty Second Business. I’m just a regular guy who’s tired of working for his money. A marine engineer, I usually find myself in the middle of the ocean on large cargo ships. With tons of free time, I decided to look into sustainable passive income strategies. After doing the necessary research, I launched my first automated T-Shirt business as a proof-of-concept. Two months later, I realized that my so called ‘experiment’ was blowing up, and had actually morphed into a legitimate business. Realizing that dropshipping was a legitimate way to make money, I set about creating his passive income empire. In this book, I detailed all the lessons I learned the hard way, so you’ll have no problem starting a passive income empire

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to find ways to inject my sense of humor into these books, keeping the reader on their toes. I looked to the book The Art of not Giving a F*ck for a lot of inspiration. The author of that book just told things how they are in an unapologetic fashion that I love. In addition, I love analogies because they break difficult subjects down into something more digestible.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
The author Mark Manson is someone I have definitely been influenced by. His writing style is just laying cold hard facts out on the table in a less than proper manner. His seemingly carefree writing style has definitely influenced this book.

What are you working on now?
I’m looking into a sort of self help book for my generation. Unfortunately, many millennials lack the basic skills needed to be a ‘real adult’. I’m currently working on a website, podcast and hopefully book to help mitigate some of these issues.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
To be honest, Instagram and social media have been a huge help. I have a large number of followers on my social media pages, which allows me to focus my advertising to the correct people, all for free.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just do it. Stop waiting around. Set hard dates for yourself to finish your manuscript, edit it, and finally publish your book. Fear is what prevents most of us from putting ourselves out there in book form so you’re really going to need to stick to the timelines you set for yourself without letting fear get in your way.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Scared money doesn’t make money.

What are you reading now?
Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad for the 8th time.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I just started writing a self-help book for millennials in their transition to being real live adults. This should be interesting.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Bushcraft 101 -Dave Canterbury
Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki
And if possible – the entire Harry Potter Series to take my mind off of my current situation

Author Websites and Profiles
Jon David Website

Eliza Stopps 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am the author of the episodic fiction serial, The Leslie Kim Serials. There are 3 main books in the serial now and one prequel. I just released a paperback omnibus that includes all 4 books together.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Dragon Bounty. In my series, Leslie Kim is a bounty hunter that gets hired as a private investigator by an alien species. It sounds out of this world, I know. But he mostly hunts down monsters, like in Supernatural, and one of those happens to be a dragon! It’s a mythical Featherwing dragon and I loved the idea of playing with a dragon in a spaceship. There are so many things that can go wrong.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Hmmm, I do like to write while not looking at my computer. I often look out the window or just stare into space while I type. Otherwise, I get too caught up on my grammar errors!

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Jim Butcher, Curtis C. Chen, Flannery O’Conner, Scott Westerfeld, and so many more. I want this series to feel like The Expanse meets Supernatural, so you can add those in too!

What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on the second season of The Leslie Kim Serials. In this book, Leslie is hunting down a river monster in Georgia and stumbles on a Vampire conspiracy. It’s a lot of fun!

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I used to work in marketing, so I know that paid services like Bookbub and Bookfunnel are the most effective. However, if you don’t have the budget then sites like this (Awesome Gang!) and your own author website with a mailing list will serve you best.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Take the advice of your first readers. Every first book kinda sucks and you have to be willing to swallow your pride and admit when something isn’t working. “Killing your darlings” isn’t a new concept, but it’s important not to take it personally when it doesn’t work out. You’re a writer, so you can always write something new that will be even better.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t pay attention to bad reviews, everyone has different tastes!

What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading a science fiction anthology called Around the Dark Dial. It’s a collection of short stories and it’s fantastic so far!

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a lot planned for 2021. The second season of The Leslie Kim Serials, a YA Fantasy novel, and hopefully more.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I think I would have to bring 4 books about how to survive on a desert island because I would be hopeless otherwise. Maybe “How to Not Die on an Island,” “What Can You Forage Without Dieing on an Island,” “100 Best Ways to Not Be Stranded on a Desert Island,” and “This Water Won’t Kill You.” (Fictional titles, hopefully!)

Author Websites and Profiles
Eliza Stopps Website
Eliza Stopps Amazon Profile

Eliza Stopps’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account

Aesop Twilight 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in British Columbia, Canada. I’m a provincial government worker. Helping the most vulnerable in society get income assistance.

I have 3 kids and a wonderful wife. I spend my time reading and rearing fish. I love dogs and travel with my family.

I have written one book.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Tired of Life? Life Changing choices and habits schools should have taught us to be happy and successful was inspired by what’s happening today. As a society we have lost our way and we have always been taught to act a certain way and think a certain way, often sacrificing what is true and right. It’s my fervent hope that this book can start an honest conversation on what really matters.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do a lot of thinking in the washroom.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Og Mandino, Ernest Hemingway, Richard Bach, CS Lewis, Victor Hugo

What are you working on now?
my next book will be on fiction.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
www.aesoptwilight.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
keep writing and enjoy it.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just do it or carpe diem!

What are you reading now?
research for my next book

What’s next for you as a writer?
i want to write a book on fiction.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Hunchback of notre dame, the Bible, Aesop’s fables

Author Websites and Profiles
Aesop Twilight Website
Aesop Twilight Amazon Profile

Aesop Twilight’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Cherise Arthur 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Cherise Arthur and I have just written my first book Sierra and Star. I live in the beautiful state of Oregon and love to read, write, photography, traveling and am really enjoyed learning about the self publishing industry. I work in education during the day and spend my free time reading and riding my horse Bear.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Sierra and Star is the first book in the series for The Adventures of Sierra and Star. I was out riding one day and had this vision of a little girl and her new pony red pony. I started making notes and decided to write a children’s book. The process of writing and re writing was probably the hardest point. I wanted my character to have a passion for horses and wanted to share special moments with her pony. It was a delight to write and then to find an illustrator to bring it to live was amazing.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I sit down and write when I feel I have the time to relax and just let the words come out of what I am thinking about for the story. I do like to keep a notebook of ideas and even when I watch TV I will get ideas for stories as well. I enjoy writing when it is quiet and I have some music on in the background.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love all the old books as a kid that I read about horses like the Billy and Blaze series, The Black Stallion and the Misty series.

What are you working on now?
I just finished writing my second book in my series and just got it back from the editor. I just launched my first book and have been doing a of learning about blogging and promoting my book. I just finished launching it on Audible and am very excited to share once it is available.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am learning about the best way to promote self published books. My Facebook page has gotten a lot of hits and comments and I just recreated a web site for the series with blogs and snippets of the book (don’t want to give the whole story away).

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do your research and have a budget. I was lucky in that I found an amazing illustrator and was able to keep in under budget. Keep track of your expenses and open a separate account for your book or books for tax purposes. That way you have all the income going to one account and it is easy to keep track or your leads and profits from your book.

Also read books from the genre you are writing and don’t be afraid to ask questions and join communities that will support your writing. Local writing chapters are a great way to learn about the industry. I have volunteered for the past 6 years with Willamette Writers Group for their annual writing conference. What a great experience that has been and 2 years ago I met Sally Field’s son who is a writer and producer at the conference.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Take your time and edit edit edit. Get other eyes to look at your book and don’t be in a rush. A good editor is so important to the process. And be patient with the process and enjoy it. Some people don’t enjoy it but if you find a good space to write and do it with finding a way to feed your soul, you will be a lot happier.

What are you reading now?
I have been reading early reader books to get an idea of what children like and how I can make my series better. I also love to read history and memoirs.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue working on my series, and learning as much as I can about self publishing and creating new stories to share with my readers,

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would probably have the bible and some other books that would be inspirational (I would like to read the new book written by Barack Obama). And anything my Maya Angelou would be part of group of books as she was so inspirational and her voice and tone in her writing was like butter. I saw her once in person and was in AWE of this woman.

Author Websites and Profiles
Cherise Arthur Website
Cherise Arthur Amazon Profile

Cherise Arthur’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Brandon McCoy 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
After about ten years of effort I just completed my first book in my planned fantasy series. Planned is a loose term as I never considered I would finish one book, but here I am. I am a working professional, aspiring author and full time husband and father to humans, canines, and felines. About the book… well, I’m not classically trained in writing, or particularly well versed in literature— but according to people that know about these kind of things… my book is pretty okay… maybe even better than okay.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A Promise of Iron. This has been a work in progress for the better part of a decade. The first draft was very different. Written about ten years ago, it focused on the story behind the story, the larger forces at work. Admittedly it missed all the heart a story needs to truly live. Enter stage left, Aubree McCoy, my four-year-old daughter. You could say she was the inspiration… you could say she helped me find the heart of the story.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Other than trying to write in a noisy house full of kids and pets…my computer setup is pretty unique. I sit in my recliner with a tv mounted on the opposite wall. That way when I get tired of writing I just lean on back and take a quick snooze. In terms of actual writing habits… I don’t outline much outside of the grand story. I think of a scene, find the emotion and intent, then place my characters in according to their motivations within the story. I throw out a lot of what I write if it doesn’t feel right.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I think most fantasy authors will provide the usual suspects here. I like Brandon Sanderson because he has a great name and makes great stories. I think Pat Rothfuss might be the best at capturing my attention and transporting me into a scene. Kingkiller Chronicles has that epic quality that makes you angry when you finish the book. Coincidently one of the few series I have read more than once. As far as style I think Glen Cook and his Black Company might be one of my favorites. It is blunt, to the point, and lacking all the bells and whistles.

What are you working on now?
Trying to get people to read my debut novel. It is a full time job- blog posts, review requests, twitter, facebook, aggressively calling friends and family and blackmailing them into writing Goodreads reviews…
I also do a wheneverifeellikewriting-blog on my website. Its pretty mediocre. I will start on Echoes of Illyria: Book Two when I find some free time.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Other than awesome gang right? I get decent traction on twitter but to be honest I am so new at it I don’t know what works or doesn’t work at this stage. Right now I am opting for the shotgun approach and aiming for maximum damage.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, wrote.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Lira is a terrible character. I hate her and want her to die. You should fix that if you want people to read you book and not hate you by proxy.

Paraphrasing here…

What are you reading now?
I HAVE NO TIME!!!!!!!!!!!! The Rhythm of War was just realized so I need to read that asap.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Get to a point of exposure with A Promise of Iron that I can take the effort of promoting back to writing. So expect book two sometime in the Spring of 2031.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Mine because I am told the pages are highly flammable and make excellent kindling. The Name of the Wind because I have already read it a few times… might as well go for the high score. And a book about surviving alone on a desert island.

Author Websites and Profiles
Brandon McCoy Website
Brandon McCoy Amazon Profile

Brandon McCoy’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Fergus O’ Connor 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a paid up member of the bureaucracy of compassion and have seen the dead ends of woke liberal culture first hand. There’s barely a social problem that hasn’t been made worse by the benefactions of the liberal elite ( such a cliche but if it fits, what do you do?), and the first chapter dives straight into the homelessness industry which I started off in. If you wanted to test out the iron law of ‘the more you spend the worse it gets’, you couldn’t pick a better start. I’m approaching the comfortable stage of middle aged mediocrity and after Covid the time to publish or be damned seemed right

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest (and first) draws on some themes which I’d previously covered in articles for an Anglo-American conservative leaning journal, the New English Review, but the inspiration to get it out had to be the psychic masturbation induced by a phantom plague. Covid is a problem that can be solved – it didn’t need to desecrate the collective dignity of nations but it did, and a whole heap of bad ideas paved the way

The book is With a Whimper, A Commentary on Cultural Decline. Its vaialble as kindle and paperback on amazon

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I believe its possible to be elegant and appropriately vulgar at the same time. If the subject matter merits it a bit of searing rudeness is all fair in love and war

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My fellow countryman Theodore Dalyrmple started the slum anti-missionary trend by chronicling the induced stupor of the underclass, and he was even less sparing of their social betters who put them there. Life at the Bottom is a great book, and whilst I couldn’t match the hard won insights of a prison doctor I hope I can come reasonably close as an ex-probation officer. Another more dated influence would have to be the great nineteenth century historian Thomas Babbington Maculey ; a great prose stylist and an absolute savage at justified character assasination

What are you working on now?
I work in local government and am stunned by the waste and inefficiency, particularly when its topped up with such smug reassurance. I can’t release it whilst I’m sucking at the teat but one day all will be revealed. British readers in particular will be in for a shock

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’d barely know, this is the first and my book came out this month!

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be too earnest, and don’t skip your own reading. If you know everything you’re not worth reading ( and its unlikely you know as much as you think)

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There’s countless variations, but Edmund Burke’s warnings against the great champions of Humanity, stands the test of time. They rarely have time for those close at hand and its usually a form of disguised misanthropy

What are you reading now?
Knut Hamsun’s impossibly depressing but poignant novel – Hunger

What’s next for you as a writer?
A year of sloth and self-indulgence

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Gogol’s Dead Souls
Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The King James Bible

 

Mary Elizabeth Fricke 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m ‘country’, heart and soul, still in partnership with my husband of 40 years on our family farm, mother of two fantastic young men who are married to wonderful women, and grandmother to the sweetest, best grandkids on earth. I just published my 9th novel. After nearly four years of a horrendous writers’ block (caused by numerous health issues), I finally managed to publish another stand-alone romantic suspense.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I have always wondered about the families of criminals after the fact. After the criminal activity is discovered, how do they react? When their loved one─ father, mother, brother, sister, cousin, friend ─ is arrested, what do they do? When the loved one goes to prison─ what happens to those they profess to love? If the loved one dies resisting arrest─ or if the circumstances in the prison turn against them─ what does the family left behind do? Of course, the answer to all of these questions depends on the circumstance. Yet, what becomes of the innocent─ those who loved blindly without question, while another defies the law and lies to everyone else around them?
In ‘Shattered Image’, Elizabeth Anne Miller lives her thirty-four years believing her parents were killed when she was a toddler. She is aware the circumstances of their deaths is questionable. Yet, she accepts the explanations of her grandfather and aunt without question─ until her employer is killed in his office. She believes her employer was the victim of an ambush until she returns to her childhood home and finds evidence otherwise….The setting for Shattered Image is 1986 rural Missouri.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a night owl. Is that unusual?

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to list. I have always been a voracious eclectic reader of all titles from non-fiction biography, inspirational, and history; to fiction romance-all genres, science fiction, and futuristic paranormal, both male and female authors. I have most of Sandra Brown’s books but Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’s Ashes in the Wind is still my favorite. Lately, I’m reading more books from newbie authors on my kindle.

What are you working on now?
At the moment, I’m taking a breather from writing. Shattered Image was just published on Christmas Day and I am concentrating on promoting it this week. After the New Year, I’ve told myself I’m going to return to finish that Birds in Peril series. We’ll see if I listen to me.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Websites and contacts such as Awesome Gang are fantastic. Amazon still promotes a number of websites and places to list books. I also belong to several author/writer/crafter groups on FaceBook where we’re frequently able to list and share our current works. I have an author page on Facebook and I also have my own website. I give those links out whenever possible in the hope to inspire someone to buy my books.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just do it. No one can pull that story, poem, etc. from your head and put it to paper or computer page but you. It’s not easy. It takes a lot of determination and long hours of concentration but, in the end, for me at least, the effort has always been worth the outcome.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Finish it. Told to me by a well-known romance author who has become a dear friend when I was lamenting over the perils of writing one of my books. Finish it, she said, you can edit and make it perfect later. Just get those words on paper first. She was right.

What are you reading now?
I had begun reading ‘The Witch Next Door’ series by Judith Berens while I waited for the final edit and cover finishes for Shattered Image. In all, there are at least a dozen books on my kindle I have yet to read. I recently purchased hardback copies of Kim Harrison’s American Demon and Ted Cruz’s One Vote Away and my son gave me two books about the Civil War in Missouri for Christmas….so….I guess I’ll be reading one of them…or all of them….

What’s next for you as a writer?
Did I mention that I am also offering Shattered Image in paperback (ISBN: 979-8585615085)? So many people have requested that I have my books published in paperback that I decided to try this from the beginning, just to see how it affects sales. The good ole e-book versus paperback controversy. I am thinking of having the first four stories of the Birds in Peril Series also released in paperback. The Sweet Pea Trilogy is already available in kindle and paperback form. So paperback sales are a new adventure and may lead me to some book signing events.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My Bible, a Catholic Daily Devotional, and my kindle (with the battery well charged so I can read the books on it)

Author Websites and Profiles
Mary Elizabeth Fricke Website
Mary Elizabeth Fricke Amazon Profile

Mary Elizabeth Fricke’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile

Gerald R. Stanek 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
In addition to several children’s picture books and two short story collections, I have written four novels in the relatively new genre of Visionary Fiction. When I finished my first novel, The Eighth House, there was no such designation in the publishing industry. The book didn’t fit the fantasy, adventure or mystery molds, and so it waited on the shelf. It dealt with expanding awareness, meditation, visioning, divination, the return of the Divine Feminine, and evolution toward a unified humanity. Since then I have studied the esoteric teachings of various traditions, and worked to become a more conscious writer. As I write I seek to be an active participant in the exchange of energy and information between the mundane and ethereal worlds. My works focus on the interplay between these realms and the effect of transcendental experience on subjective reality.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is Rosa Mundi. One inspiration for it was the time-honored theme of the otherworld. With so many problems facing the Earth and human civilization, is there an alternative? If so, how do we get there? Has anyone already made such a migration? Are there beings on the other side of ‘the veil’ that can help us? These are some of the questions I address in Rosa Mundi.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I think writing at all is a pretty unusual habit, and writing fiction particularly so. The author of fiction spends untold hours making up people and their stories to try and convey what they themselves have learned or experienced in their own life—as if living it has not convinced them of their own truths. As far as the physicality of it, I tend to write with my feet up on my desk and the laptop in my lap. As soon as I sit up straight and put the computer on the desk, I run out of ideas.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
We’re all influenced by every book we read. We either think “yeah, I want to write like that” or “I hope my writing is better than this”. Some authors just resonate with you and you want to read everything they’ve written. With others, even though they’re very good, one is enough. Some of the writers I most admire are Faulkner, Nabokov, Iris Murdoch, Dickens, Alice Bailey, Tolkien, Melville, Steinbeck, Willa Cather, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Tolstoy, James Joyce, not necessarily in that order.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on promoting Rosa Mundi. I think 2020 has put a bit of a damper on my creative juices. No doubt this whole year will eventually ferment into a great flowering of ideas.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have yet to find a surefire marketing strategy. Try all and every seems to be a good tactic.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write for yourself, not others, but bear in mind what the reader’s experience is. Let your first draft steep for a few months before diving into the second pass. Don’t be afraid to drop something that’s not working. Don’t overestimate the memory of your reader; that clue you dropped on page 6 will be forgotten long before page 230. Read the work aloud to someone; if they can’t follow it listening, they won’t be able to reading either. Work up a glossary for your book— you might not need it to publish, but it will help you clarify and/or edit things in the text itself.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I don’t know if it qualifies as advice, but I find this quote of Steinbeck’s an apt description of the main difficulty writers face.
“The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.”

What are you reading now?
Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone. Great storytelling.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Don’t know—I haven’t written it yet.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Go Down Moses by Faulkner, The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch, Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Ulysses by James Joyce. I could reread all of these indefinitely.

Author Websites and Profiles
Gerald R. Stanek Website
Gerald R. Stanek Amazon Profile
Gerald R. Stanek Author Profile on Smashwords

Gerald R. Stanek’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile

Montana Jones 

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I’m Montana Jones, a self-published author who has always loved to read and write from an early age. I released my first book Hunted in 2020 and am currently completing my second book in the series Run, which will be available early next year. I love to write Crime/Thriller/Romance genres.

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Montana Jones lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and kids. She has an adorable British shorthair cat called Maisie and a Miniature Daschund dog named Wolfgang.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Hunted.
I think my inspiration came from my enjoyment of reading thriller/crime and romance novels. I actually surprised myself when I was writing Hunted as it turned out a little more creepy and gruesome than I first intended but I was happy with the final script.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Unusual writing habits?
No, not really. I do need a quiet space, a cup of tea, and a biscuit to get started, though! I also need to be in the right headspace. If I’m feeling mentally drained, I won’t bother as I need the energy to inject my imagination into whatever I am writing.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
My love affair with books started at a young age, and James Patterson quickly became my favorite author. When I turned 30, my husband bought me one of Karen Rose’s books on a whim, and a new love affair began. I also enjoy reading some of Nora Roberts’ books.
They both have writing styles/themes that I enjoy.

What are you working on now?
Run. It’s a story about special agent Jack Carter and officer Samantha McKellar. They feature in Hunted my first book.
A serial killer is picking off young girls, torturing and holding them captive.
When a young woman is discovered barely alive, she will only speak to one person, FBI special agent Jack Carter. Can special agent Carter and officer Samantha Kellar find the missing women before it’s too late?

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As a new author, I’m still working this out. Amazon advertising and Instagram have shown some positive results.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up!
If you are passionate about writing, keep going, I think it’s hard, especially trying to write while working full-time. Just find little pockets of time when you can 30 minutes here, and there can be very productive.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Are you happy? Yes or no? Yes? Keep going. No? Change something.

It’s a simple but effective way of looking at life. We are in control of our future happiness.

What are you reading now?
I just finished reading Kat Kinney’s Dark. It’s a little different from what I normally read, but if you like the supernatural (vampires & werewolves) give it a go.

What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep plodding along and writing more. Run is almost finished and I am excited about my next book. I have loads of great ideas and cant wait to keep working out the plot on paper instead of in my head!

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Nora Roberts – The Witness (I adore this book, everything from the genre to writing style calls to me!)
Karen Rose – Closer than you think (The chemistry between Faith and Deacon is palpable as well as the gripping storyline.)
James Patterson – Along came a spider (An oldie but a goodie, I love the Alex Cross series.)
James Patterson – Maximum Ride (I loved these books when I was younger, who am I kidding I still love them haha.)

Author Websites and Profiles
Montana Jones Website
Montana Jones Amazon Profile

Montana Jones’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile